'House' Arrest: Fox Sweeps Tuesday, NBC Heads To Second

With no "Dancing with the Stars" in its hip pocket, ABC retreated on Tuesday, as Fox's all-powerful "House" took center stage.

With a preliminary 6.8 rating for "House," the night's best-rated network show, Fox grabbed a 4.6 average rating and 12 share among 18-49 viewers for the night. NBC was next at 3.6/9, ABC was in the third spot at 3.4/9, and CBS was behind those numbers at a 3.3/9, CW fifth at 1.9/5 and Univision sixth at 1.6/4.

ABC didn't have much luck with its new comedy/drama, "Big Day," which earned a 2.8 rating among adults 18-49 in the 9 p.m. time slot. ABC did a lot better at 8 p.m. with the always-popular "Charlie Brown Christmas," which did a solid 4.8 rating among 18-49 viewers.

Perhaps more alarming for ABC was that its rookie sitcom, "Help Me Help You," at 9:30 p.m. lost the wind in its sails--barely drifting at a 1.8 rating, far off its 3.1 average.

NBC did its best work at 10 p.m. with a 5.2 for "Law & Order: SVU." ABC's "Boston Legal" grabbed a 3.0 rating during that hour. Next came CBS' new drama "3 Lbs." at a sub-three 2.4 rating.

While "Big Day" was having its troubles, other rookie shows were in the same boat on Tuesday night. In addition to the 2.4 rating for "3lbs," two 8 p.m. shows offered up similar data: NBC with a 2.4 for "Friday Night Lights" and Fox with a 2.3 for "Standoff."

The CW had much more to cheer about.

The "Gilmore Girls" pulled in season-high numbers for 18-49s and 18-34s, while "Veronica Mars" pulled in its best numbers ever for its key 18-34 audience. Among 18-49 viewers, "Girls" pulled a 2.2/6 with "Mars" getting a 1.6/4. Overall for the night, the network grabbed its best Tuesday to date, with a 2.0/6 among the network's key 18-34 viewers.